FRANCE
Documentary taken off air
A hit documentary about how some Catholic priests allegedly abused nuns in different parts of the world has been pulled from the Franco-German television channel Arte after a priest complained to a German court. The big-budget media investigation, Sex Slaves in the Catholic Church, was broadcast in March and has been sold widely internationally since. Its broadcast came weeks after Pope Francis admitted that some rogue priests had used nuns as “sexual slaves” and that the Vatican had to dissolve a French order, because its founder was preying on its sisters. Arte told reporters on Tuesday that it was forced to pull the documentary from its replay site earlier this month after a press tribunal in Hamburg slapped a temporary injunction on the film following a complaint from a priest. The tribunal told reporters that the priest complained that, while he was not shown in the documentary, he was “recognizable” from an interview given by a nun.
SPAIN
Moon strike observed
A space rock left a big crater on the moon during January’s total lunar eclipse, scientists reported on Tuesday. They said the meteoroid hit the moon at 61,000kph, carving out a crater nearly 1m across. It was the first impact flash observed during a lunar eclipse. The scientists — who operate a lunar impact detection system using eight telescopes in the country — believe that the object was a comet fragment up to 60cm across and 45kg. The impact energy was equivalent to 1.5 tonnes of TNT. Astrophysicist Jose Maria Madiedo of the University of Huelva said it was “really exciting” to catch the brief flash, after many tries during eclipses. The findings are in the Royal Astronomical Society’s Monthly Notices.
UNITED STATES
Squirrel boards trolley
A surprise passenger hitched a ride on a Boston commuter trolley, frightening some people at first, but warming their hearts when it willingly snuggled in a human passenger’s arms. Commuters said a squirrel bounded onto a Red Line trolley on Monday morning at a stop, prompting some passengers to hop onto their seats. Passenger Rosanne Foley, the executive director of the Boston Landmarks Commission, posted on Twitter a photograph of the squirrel resting on another person’s arm. She told Boston.com that someone even tried to feed the rodent a piece of granola bar. The rodent rider was let off by passengers at another station. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokeswoman Lisa Battiston commended the kindness of passengers, but warned against interacting with wild animals on a train.
UNITED STATES
Beehive lands on woman
An Arizona woman is recovering from more than 20 bee stings after heavy winds blew a hive off a tree and it landed on her head. Firefighters in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe said it happened on Monday afternoon as the woman picked up her child from daycare. The woman happened to be walking under the tree where the hive was when wind blew it off, Tempe Fire Medical Rescue Department Assistant Chief Andrea Glass said. The National Weather Service said wind gusts around metro Phoenix reached 72kph. The woman was stung 20 to 30 times on and around her head, Glass said. She was evaluated and opted to have her husband drive her to a hospital.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was